What are you watching?

[ChuckScumm]

Scott Ferris and Earthquake Ferris are not the same guy. Scott Ferris mostly worked in Stampede and Portland although he did do some jobs in AWA.

Doh! Thanks for the clear up!

[BruiserBrody]

This is apparently the final AWA show (circa November of 1990) before they switched to an all-classic bout format.

- We get a Verne Gagne and Nick Bockwinkel in studio voice over from one of their past matches.

- The show starts by talking about how this is now season 40 of the AWA, which leads to a depressing series of bumpers that show all the big stars the AWA had and lost over the years.

- A few squash matches with Greg Gagne and Bischoff over dubbing new commentary

- A special feature on Larry Zybysko

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/the-iron-sheik-beats-backlund/#.V25bR7grLIV

December of 1983 sees the retirement of an all time great, the return of a WWWF champion to JCP, Dick Slater becomes Crockett's top heel in the aftershock of Starrcade, Bob Backlund makes his final successful title defenses, the WWF invades St. Louis and brings out the big guns, Hogan and Flair both take part in mega matches in the Orient, Santa Claus turns heel in WCCW, the AWA adapts to life without Hogan, Macho Man disrupts a live Memphis TV taping, and a ton of other news and notes... Plus a look at the full card from the December MSG show...

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wwf-philly-spectrum-12183/#.V3UyirgrLIU

A busy month sees McMahon's take over start to rattle the Orient as rumors of a Japanese legend jumping ship has Baba and Inoki in fits, The Hot Rod enters the WWF, An AWA vs. NWA World title unification is teased on TV, A wrestling Hall of Famer makes a very special appearance at the Super Bowl, NWA Champ Ric Flair is pinned on TV to set up the next big heel in JCP, a "rookie" is given a major push and put over a former WWWF champ, Buzz Sawyer is fired after abusing his booking power, a major star holds Verne Gagne up over his push, Jimmy Hart cuts a classless promo in Memphis, a former Olympian assaults a pregnant fan and many other news and notes. A full rundown of the WWF's Philly house show from January 1984 closes out the article.

[Memphis Mark]

I just watched some SWCW Sheepherders matches . Jonathan Boyd was such a great promo man. Boyd had great heel runs in Southeastern and Memphis ( twice ) , however Southwest gave him a platform to really work his magic. Hell, he even had me believing Bobby Jaggars ran him off the road at 4 a.m.

[BruiserBrody]

Found a newish All-Japan channel with a bunch of odd matches:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb8LVLQrDwM

Harley Race and Crusher Blackwell vs. Tiger Jeet Singh and the One Man Gang

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msmHz2gvU9U

Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell vs. Dory Funk Jr and Kerry Von Erich

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY2CFuYm2xQ

A masked duo of Star Wars rip off gimmicks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EniaqW0Mbs

Gorilla Monsoon in a Judo challenge

[victory]

Thanks for posting that High Flyers vs Dory/KVE match. I always wanted to see that one before.

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wwf-hogan-beats-sheik/#.V35xWLgrLIU

Hulkamania is born in the WWF as the Hulkster collides with the Iron Sheik, plus Tito Santana takes focus on IC champ Don Muraco, Roddy Piper does some excellent heel work with Paul Orndorff, Andre takes part in a six-man, plus Slaughter, the Masked Superstar, Jimmy Snuka and others take part in undercard action.

[Mando]

Sal Bellomo, J.T. Smith, & The Sandman vs. Terry Funk & Bad Breed (Ian & Axl Rotten) - ECW Hardcore TV 12/21/93

 

Look at the names above. Closely. This was your main event just days before Christmas night 1993. Thoughts of glazed ham, stockings, blinking lights, and opening up your new WWF LJN figures raced through your head. Bellomo’s gladiatorial attire a nice contrast to Axl’s torn heavy metal shirt. The lights are flickering on and off in the arena. This transpired throughout the show and I assumed it was legitimate initially due to the bingo hall not being a state of the art production facility. But now it’s pure gimmickry. Weird spotlights adorn the men in the throes of grappling in a mostly pitch black arena as if Commissioner Gordon gave up the Bat-Signal in lieu of a halogen. All kinds of guys appear at ringside to enter the fray and its bedlam as chairs and tables are getting tossed like cornhole bags at a family picnic. Terry Funk is running the ropes in a mostly empty ring as if stuck on a loop. Rockin’ Rebel is in the ring in stonewashed jeans with a BFG-sized mullet and discount rack Reeboks. Maybe Spielberg will get him a job on his next flick. The show ended in total pandemonium like the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine.

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/david-von-erich-death/#.V4egX7grLIU February of 1984 was a game changer. WCCW lost one it's crown jewels as David Von Erich died tragically while in Japan, Vince McMahon has the rest of the world scared as rumors of a global expansion creates paranoia, an all-time legendary heel debuts in JCP, The Boogie Woogie Man visits a prostitute, Andre loses a battle royal in a shocker, The AWA asks a top heel to take Hogan's spot, the biggest star in the history of Mexico dies, several huge title changes happen, plus tons of others news, notes and results!!

[GOTNW]

I just came back form the croatian indy and it was awesome. The matches suck-but that's totally irrelevant. The crowd is amazing-basically no one watches wrestling here, so the crowd reaction are basically stuff you'd yell when you'd see two dudes arguing and fighting in school. It's a very.......pure wrestling experience, with absolutely no smarkiness whatsover. Even if the wrestler aren't properly trained it's still a million times better than going to a show that's incredibly dry and dull.

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wrasslin-march-1984/#.V5DigrgrLIU

The WWF vs the World continues as the non-WWF promoters plot their counter attack known as "Pro Wrestling USA", the NWA title changes hands, Jerry Lawler teams with a long time enemy, the hottest Mid-South angle in years kicks off "The Last Stampede", the AWA and GCW both manage to lose television ground to Vince, some famous Piper's Pit interviews air, a shoot fighter wins a WWF title, the AWA draws big crowds as they load their cards with legends, Montreal delivers a local dream match and much more!

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/etc/wrasslin-april-1984/#.V5ttSLgrLIU

One of my favorite months to review so far includes the kick start of the Rock n' Wrestling angle, Bill Watts returns to the ring for the "Last Stampede", two of the AWA's top heels are arrested after a melee with the cops, the seeds for "Black Saturday" are sown as Vince McMahon buys GCW, Japan changes wrestling forever by starting up a quasi shoot promotion, plus lots more news and results from around the Wrasslin' world in April of 1984!!

[clintthecrippler]

I was aware that in '86 WWF initially brought in Polynesian wrestler Siva Afi as "Superfly Afi" (billed as "Snuka's cousin"), but had no idea that the grand debut of "Superfly Afi" was in Madison Square Garden before he had been on TV to educate folks about the gimmick.

 

So when the word "Suuuuuuuuuuuuperfly" tumbled out of Howard Finkel's mouth, the MSG crowd exploded thinking that Snuka had come back. What follows is one of the great trainwreck debuts in the history of WWE:

 

(1) The crowd exploding at the announcement of "Superfly" and drowning out the "Afi" part

(2) the crowd slowly coming to the realization that this isn't Snuka

(3) "We Want Snuka" chants as the match begins

(4) Crowd just going apathetically quiet as the match progresses

(5) the crowd loudly booing as Afi goes to the top rope because he's not Snuka

(6) WWF's music department mistaking the "Shaft" theme as an appropriate entrance song for "Superfly".

 

https://www.youtube.com/goGoLM4QPUs

[Matt D]

 

Everyone will be glad to know that the Big Skye vs Van Hammer match that I remembered as being surprisingly good is actually surprisingly good. Part of that is the hot 93 crowd but still.

[Migs]

I was aware that in '86 WWF initially brought in Polynesian wrestler Siva Afi as "Superfly Afi" (billed as "Snuka's cousin"), but had no idea that the grand debut of "Superfly Afi" was in Madison Square Garden before he had been on TV to educate folks about the gimmick.

 

So when the word "Suuuuuuuuuuuuperfly" tumbled out of Howard Finkel's mouth, the MSG crowd exploded thinking that Snuka had come back. What follows is one of the great trainwreck debuts in the history of WWE:

 

(1) The crowd exploding at the announcement of "Superfly" and drowning out the "Afi" part

(2) the crowd slowly coming to the realization that this isn't Snuka

(3) "We Want Snuka" chants as the match begins

(4) Crowd just going apathetically quiet as the match progresses

(5) the crowd loudly booing as Afi goes to the top rope because he's not Snuka

(6) WWF's music department mistaking the "Shaft" theme as an appropriate entrance song for "Superfly".

 

https://www.youtube.com/goGoLM4QPUs

 

That was amazing.

[victory]

 

 

I was aware that in '86 WWF initially brought in Polynesian wrestler Siva Afi as "Superfly Afi" (billed as "Snuka's cousin"), but had no idea that the grand debut of "Superfly Afi" was in Madison Square Garden before he had been on TV to educate folks about the gimmick.

 

So when the word "Suuuuuuuuuuuuperfly" tumbled out of Howard Finkel's mouth, the MSG crowd exploded thinking that Snuka had come back. What follows is one of the great trainwreck debuts in the history of WWE:

 

(1) The crowd exploding at the announcement of "Superfly" and drowning out the "Afi" part

(2) the crowd slowly coming to the realization that this isn't Snuka

(3) "We Want Snuka" chants as the match begins

(4) Crowd just going apathetically quiet as the match progresses

(5) the crowd loudly booing as Afi goes to the top rope because he's not Snuka

(6) WWF's music department mistaking the "Shaft" theme as an appropriate entrance song for "Superfly".

 

https://www.youtube.com/goGoLM4QPUs

That was amazing.

I never saw that before. Very interesting. Too bad the volume cut out during the fire dance. I wanted to hear if the crowd started turning on that as well despite it being pretty cool. He was definitely more talented than Snuka in the regard.

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wrasslin-history-may-1984/#.V7f1tJgrLIU

May 84 sees Cyndi Lauper getting into it with Roddy Piper, Hulk Hogan is rumored to retire to star in a new TV vehicle, A WWF star begins the month as a champion and ends the month quitting, another AWA star defects to Vince, a riot breaks out in St Louis, the mighty Road Warriors suffer a rare loss, the NWA and AWA World titles change hands, Brody wins friends by missing TV tapings, WCCW held it's biggest show ever, Jim Neidhart caused chaos in Memphis, the Brisco Brothers fear they may be forced into a shoot, Crockett runs a big show in Vince's backyard and much more!

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wrasslin-june-1984/#.V8FWUpgrLIU

June of 1984 saw Cyndi Lauper and Capt. Lou set up an battle for MTV, another major AWA stars defects to the WWF, JCP invades the WWF area with weak cards, St Louis has a oddball six-man match, GCW and WWF face off with stacked cards in Baltimore, Vince invades Minnesota with Verne's talent, A WWF champion appears on an AWA show, Mike Von Erich beats Ric Flair, Hogan and the WWF charges into Memphis to try and take down Jerry Jarrett - Memphis responds with a loaded show, Mid-South draws a big house for the latest Superdome event, Florida puts on a mega show to decide the "Lord of the Ring", JCP sees a beloved face turn to the dark side, plus the debut of rookie who would headline events for the next several years. Plus much more news and results from around the wrestling world!!

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wrasslin-back-day-july-1984/#.V8l6qpgrLIU

July 1984: MSG is the site of the MTV special "The Brawl to End it All" with Cyndi Lauper giving the WWF her rub. The AWA loses yet another top guy to the WWF, A WWF Champion works for Verne Gagne in St. Louis, BLACK SATURDAY, the AWA focuses on several new feuds to try and bolster business, A long time heel hears cheers in Florida, JYD works his Superdome magic once again, Jerry Jarrett out duels McMahon, A ref headlines a WCCW card, a wrestler dies under mysterious circumstances, Jim Crockett is accused of being a racist, plus much more news and results!!

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wwf-meadowlands-71584/#.V9PfQZgrLIV

One half of a double main event from the Meadowlands sees Hulk Hogan team with the massive Andre the Giant to tackle Dick Murdoch, Adrian Adonis and Big John Studd in a handicap match. The other half sees a bloody brawl between Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka. Mil Mascaras and Paul Orndorff also take part in under card action. Gorilla Monsoon provides the hyperbolic commentary, with some real whoppers along the way.

[khawk20]

Watched some buddy rose Portland discs last night. Pretty fun. The belt off the bridge was pretty neat.

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/the-brawl-to-end-it-all/#.V9qzAJgrLIU

The "Brawl to End it All" sees the WWF present the much hyped Wendi Richter vs. Fabulous Moolah grudge match live on MTV. Other bouts include a hard hitting World title match between champion Hulk Hogan and challenger Greg "the Hammer" Valentine, plus Tito Santana grapples with Bob Orton Jr. in a fantastic clash of technical greats, World tag champions Adonis and Murdoch attempt to upend Sgt. Slaughter and Pvt. Daniels in a fast paced battle, Antonio Inoki defends his Martial Arts title, twenty men clash in a battle royal, and other stars such as Paul Orndorff and Bob Backlund compete in singles action!

[iamthedoctor]

So far im up to the first March week of 1991 so The Ultimate Warrior has just ended Brother Love's Career which I loved as a kid as just couldnt stand the slimey Brother Love and Earthquake got another beating at the hands of the masked guy. I know it got abandoned but given how many weeks this happened in a Row they should have done something at Wrestlemania.

 

Then we come to Prime Time Wrestling where they recap the previous week's show where Andre made Heenan walk on grapes, anyone else in the UK remember getting cheesed off with that episode? From memory they bigged up Andre getting Bobby for nearly 2 hours and then Sky Sports decided to cut the final segment so we didnt see it and instead reair the 3 hour Royal Rumble PPV. The air went blue for many hours for them doing this. Dont think I ever saw the footage till a decade later when I found a trader with it, anyhow we are being treated to Valentine/Barbarian & Perfect/Snuka.

 

They were ok and its nice to see matches that wernt from MSG or Boston but we come now to a odd segment Paul Bearer demonstrating a embalming, he has a dummy I was guessing was filled with blood and by the end hes holding something in his hands that resembles a heart, poor Bobby apparently threw up. I cant recall this episode airing in the UK and I guess I can see why it did seem a little strong, anyhow Paul's not done yet as he is having a second attempt at it.

 

After all that we are treated by a mystery guest who is the Big Bossman where heenan gets handcuffed and Bossman bring out a lady I presume is supposed to be his mother who just batters the brain with her handbag for 2 minutes. Never saw this before and it was fully as hell couldnt stop laughing, did they ever show highlights of this on Superstars/Challenge?

 

Man I wish they had!

[BruiserBrody]

The Embalming sounds like something I need to see!